Shinra Inc And Cissnei
by Jason Tandro
Summary: S4E5- The plans for the new Mako Reactors are revealed, but a couple of obstacles stand in the way of its completion. Reno runs into an old flame.


Shinra Inc. And Cissnei

by: Jason Tandro

Suggested By: Homer

Cid sat in the pilot's chair of the Shinra 26. He was programming the terminal he would use when the rocket blasted off into space and calibrating it with the new equipment that DevCom was adding to the ship.

Scarlet and Hojo were sitting near him on similar terminals. Scarlet, who was by profession a weapon designer, was working on programming the ignition sequence. Rockets and missiles were, after all, similar in nature. Hojo was taking Cid's words of warning to heart and entertaining himself by calculating the orbital trajectory of the flight and not making mutants or monsters in the mako tanks.

Palmer walked in holding a clipboard. He too had been hard at work, for perhaps the first time in his life.

"Alright Cid. The new stage 1 separation statistics are completed. I've forwarded them to you," Palmer said. "Scarlet I have the new quantities of fuel you needed."

"What about the readings I need to calculate interference for the flight?" Hojo asked.

"Almost ready. Our meteorological team is working at it as we speak," he explained.

"I think it's about lunch time anyways."

"Sounds good to me," Cid said, putting his terminal to sleep.

"So, what do you think of our village?" Bosker asked.

Rufus was still shuddering from the experience, and Bosker didn't press the point. Reeve took over the conversation for him.

"So this new method of Mako use," Reeve began.

"Ah right," Bosker nodded. "Down to business."

Geneva opened her briefcase and handed a folder to Reeve. Reeve opened the folder and saw that it was full of blueprints for Mako Reactors.

"These look like ordinary Mako Reactors," Reeve asked.

"They're fairly similar. The only thing that's different is the compression method. Or to be more precise, the lack of compression," she said. "Rather than compress the Mako energy, we actually accelerate its flow through a series of pipes and tubes which result in powering electrical turbines. It's like hydroelectricity, only 100 times more productive! And then the Mako simply returns to the planet, completely unharmed."

Reeve shrugged his shoulders. "This is all Greek to me. What do you want in return?"

"What do we want? Every currently existing Mako Reactor to be replaced with these. Much better for the environment!" Bosker said.

Rufus found his voice at last. "Seriously? That's it?"

"Hey we're simple people. We don't need your blood money, bro," Bosker smiled. "Just seeing the warm smiles on children's faces when we can tell them they have their future back is more than enough for me."

"Get me the hell out of here, Reeve," Rufus cursed.

Reno and Rude walked down the hall towards the Conference Room. Apparently something big was going on, and they didn't like it. It had been five days since Reeve left with Rufus and if they were back already with big news, it could only mean one thing. Work.

"I know I bitched about being bored a few days ago, but I lied. I'd rather be doing nothing," Reno whined.

"Just try to keep it together. Maybe they've just got something to say about Rufus. It doesn't mean they've found a way to restore the company," Rude said as he opened the door to the Conference Room.

"Ah they're here!" Reeve called. "Great news, guys! We've found a way to restore the company!"

Reno did not attempt to hide the act as he punched Rude in the arm as hard as he could. He then cursed loudly and sat down at the table. Rude, for a change, sat on the opposite side of the table. He then scanned the table to see that Tseng, Elena and Reeve were all present, as well as Rufus who had for the first time in almost a month, shaved, showered and put on his finest white suit again.

"Huh. Just like old times, almost," Rude commented.

"Almost indeed," Reeve nodded. "We've got a couple problems, and as you can guess they're financial."

"Déjà vu, much?" Reno scoffed.

"We have the blueprints for a type of technology that will revolutionize Mako energy, making it more profitable than ever," Rufus explained. "The problem is that we don't have the money to spare to make these changes."

"So to dig ourselves out of debt, we need to create more debt?" Reno asked. "Rufus if you were in a burning building would you try to put out the fire with gasoline?"

"Can it, Reno," Reeve ordered. "It's a solid idea, but I'll admit it is a tad daunting. The only company now that has that much money is a company who is not going to want us to be able to buy back our old assets; Devcom."

"And that's not even our biggest problem, believe it or not," Tseng added.

"What's this?" Rufus asked.

"You guys got Domino elected. The work you need to do will affect zoning in the city. And good luck getting him to back up the recovery of a company that would get him thrown out of office or put back in a library," Tseng said.

"Why do people hate me?" Rufus whined, setting his head down on the desk.

"Turks, you're on assignment," Reeve said. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I need you to go find evidence to help us get Domino thrown out of office."

"My god, back-pedal harder why don't you? To think, if you'd just let Bosker win the election in the first place we wouldn't have to deal with this crap!" Reno cursed.

"Reno!" Reeve shouted.

"I'm going, I'm going!" Reno shouted back as he left the room.

The Mayoral Residence was usually within the Shinra Tower, but as Domino did not fully trust Rufus he chose to take up residence in the Sector 4 Plate, as far as he could reasonably get away from it. Reno, Rude and Elena sat on a train taking them from Sector 8 towards Sector 4. However when the train stopped at Sector 6, another Turk got on the train with them. She had long, curly red hair and a cheeky smile.

"Cissnei," Reno said, standing up for no apparent reason.

"Reno. It's good to see you again," Cissnei smiled, offering her hand.

Reno shook it but cocked his head to the side. "You're on this assignment?"

"I am a Turk, aren't I?" Cissnei asked. "The word from the old boss is you want us to get Domino kicked out right?"

"How do you know that?" Elena asked, suspiciously. "Our mission was supposed to be confidential."

"Oh that's kinda my bad. I accidentally hit 'Send To All' when I forwarded the mission specs to you guys," Reno said, shrugging his shoulders.

"So anybody in the company could know what we're up to?" Elena gasped.

Suddenly one of the front desk workers moved towards the front of the train, to exit. "Good luck with taking Domino down, buddy."

"Probably," Reno nodded.

"Relax," Cissnei said, folding her arms. "Like I said, I'm still a Turk and I want to help you guys."

"Normally these things are handled by us three. You know- alone?" Rude added.

"Oh really, how's that working out for you guys?" Cissnei asked.

Rude looked at Elena. Elena looked at Reno. Reno looked at the floor.

"Okay, you're in. Got any ideas as to what we can do?" Reno asked.

"Well maybe," Cissnei smirked, patting Reno's chest. "Domino likes his privacy at his age. But the only reason a politician wants privacy is he's hiding something."

"Or, you know, he's still a human being with human needs, but no let's go with the paranoid sounding one," Elena scoffed, clearly not pleased with the addition.

"Look just follow my lead when we get there," Cissnei said, sitting down next to Reno.

The train stopped at Sector 5 and let a few more people off. Once the doors shut again Reno turned to Cissnei.

"So what have you been up to these past couple years?" Reno asked.

"Staying under the radar, and not just Shinra's radar," she said, giving him a slightly cold look.

"I was gonna call you, I was just," Reno rubbed the back of his head.

"Just what? Too busy sleeping with other women?" Cissnei asked.

"That's… you don't know the whole story," Reno sighed, scooting over one seat.

"He also slept with other guys," Rude added, chuckling.

"Not the time Rude," Reno said, raising his hand warningly. It was a testament to their friendship that Rude fell silent at once.

"Look, to be honest I am a womanizer. I have a problem," Reno said. "I wasn't gonna drag you into that and hurt you."

"Well, you hurt me anyways," Cissnei sighed. "But that's neither here nor there, Reno. We work together. Office relationships don't work anyways."

Elena scoffed again and stood up. "I'm going to go grab our stuff."

"I'll help," Rude said, looking eager for an opportunity to leave.

Once the two were at the front of the car, gathering their gear, Reno continued talking.

"Look, I'm a dog, okay. I'm sorry," Reno said. "But I'm working on getting better."

"Weren't you sued for sexual harassment a couple years ago?" Cissnei asked.

[Author's Note: See Shinra Inc. And Sex]

"Uh… yeah," Reno replied.

"And you still date tons of women?" Cissnei asked.

Reno nodded.

"So how exactly are you working on becoming a better person?" Cissnei asked.

"Well… I've read a self-help book," Reno said lamely.

"What book?"

"Making Pottery For Fun And Profit."

"And has that helped you with your sex addiction?" Cissnei asked, incredulously.

"Not really. It turns out it was actually a porno."

"I can see you're giving this your full effort."

The train stopped at Sector 4. Cissnei stood up and moved towards the opening doors. Reno slumped after her looking sour, shortly before Elena shoved his pack into his chest.

Domino's manor house was fairly small and poorly guarded. Not that it mattered that they were poorly defended, since as they were representatives of Shinra they were allowed on the premises without any interference.

"Oh look, Reno, people you didn't send the email to," Elena mocked. "How lucky for us."

"I hate you women," Reno hissed.

Domino opened his door and looked out over the crowd of Turks standing in front of him. "Oh my. Quite a few people to see me. Well come on in then."

Domino led the way into his small, tasteful living room. He sat on the couch and the Turks all sat in chairs around his table.

"So, Rufus tired of me already?" Domino asked.

"God damn it, were you on the email list too?" Reno whined.

"No, I wasn't. What email list?" Domino asked.

Reno rubbed his forehead and just shook his hand. "Oh, never mind."

Domino grunted. "Huh, so he _does _want me out of office. Why is he in such a hurry, he just got me the job a few weeks ago."

"Look, our boss has found a way of making new Mako Reactors, but he's afraid that that you'll prevent us the zoning permits to make the update to the reactors," Cissnei explained.

Domino seemed shocked. "Why would I want to do that?"

Elena also looked stunned. "You mean you're okay with Shinra returning to power?"

Domino shrugged his shoulders. "All I care about is what is best for this city. That's what nobody seems to understand. The new Mako Reactors would create jobs. I'll grant you all the permits you need, under one condition."

"What's that?" Reno asked.

"I'm the Mayor of Midgar. Anything having to do with the city and its people goes directly through me. Let Rufus worry about his company, let me handle this city," Domino said.

"Are you kidding? Phrase it like that; like you're taking work off his shoulders, and he'll make you king," Rude laughed. "Can't believe he wasted all our time with this wild goose chase, you really are a good guy Domino."

"There are, surprisingly, a few of us left in the world," Domino nodded. "But what are you going to do about the funds to build these reactors? And DevCom?"

"DevCom doesn't own our reactors," Reno said. "So we can do whatever we want. The money… we're still having trouble trying to find out how to make that much."

"I doubt your business partner would be happy to give you a loan," Domino sighed. "Well if you can shore up the funds, I'll assist in any way I can. Tell that to Rufus and Reeve."

"I'm sure he'll be happy to hear it. Thank you, Domino," Elena smiled.

The train ride home was a fairly quiet affair. Cissnei sat on the opposite side of the train from Reno. Rude sat beside him.

"So what happened between you and her?" Rude asked.

"I took her out on a date, never called her back. You know, the usual story. Only with less sex and more… me not having sex," Reno replied.

"You dumped her because she wouldn't put out?"

"Can we quit harping on that, please? It was years ago," Reno sighed.

"Are you any different now than you were then?"

"Yes, back then I was frustrated due to hormones, right now I'm frustrated because of you," Reno snapped.

Rude folded his arms. "Look, this whole situation has given me time to re-evaluate my life. We can make a change in who we are and become better people. But we keep saying that we'll 'do it tomorrow.' So when is tomorrow gonna come, Reno?"

Reno looked down at the end of the train where Cissnei and Elena were chatting animatedly.

"I don't know."

The two sat silent for a few moments, as the train rattled on down the track.

"You wanna hit up a strip club?" Rude asked.

"Or a pottery shop, either one."


End file.
